Worry
by Foenix Nightshade
Summary: The battle on Fastoon could barely be called anything but a massacre. One father is desperate to keep his infant son safe.


His mind was numb, very little registered in his mind. There was the inconsistent beep of some kind of monitor. He was in a small room, unfamiliar. His eyes cracked open; his vision was blurry. Figures in white hovered over him, seeming frantic, but somehow calm. He felt a prick in his arm. He glanced down, seeing a hand move away from the needle hooked to an IV. His brow furrowed in confusion. What was this? What happened…?

"Keep your eyes open," someone was saying. "Keep them open; stay awake. Come on, stay with us, Lombax."

Lombax… That's right. Lombax. He was a Lombax.

Slowly, his vision cleared. He blinked multiple times, trying…trying to remember. All at once, it came to him.

The attack... Tachyon. Betrayal. Court of Azimuth. Dimensionator. The portal. The Lombaxes, leaving their home for eternity. Missing, someone had been missing. _Emily_. Back to the house. Had to find her. Had to save her. Had to _save them_! In the house. Through the house. Find them. Find them.

"Emi…Emily…" he muttered, still dazed.

Blood. On the walls. Dead. She was dead. She was _dead_. He killed her. Laughter. Psychotic laughter. Whirling around. Eyes. Cruel. Cold. Empty. _Evil._

He sat up suddenly, screaming, "Murderer!" His mind refused to understand where he was. He had to run. Had to _fight_. _Fight_. Kill him! _Kill him!_ Every molecule screamed at him. He had to fight, had to kill that loathsome beast!

He forced himself to remain still though, forced himself to think rationally. He wasn't on Fastoon anymore. He had escaped. He was safe. For now. Safe.

His tension left him in an instant, and he finally dared to breathe. All of his adrenaline seemed to disappear. He finally looked up and around him. Two men and a woman were standing in the room. The woman was holding a clipboard and watching a screen as a set of lines waved across it. His brow furrowed in confusion before the answer came to him. Hospital. He was in a hospital. Why was he-?

That's when his nerves kicked in, and he actually felt the blunt of the pain. He shuddered, putting a hand behind him on the bed to steady his weak frame. Letting his eyes close half way, he concentrated on his breathing. In…out…in…out…

One of the men stepped over to him, saying something. The Lombax looked at him in his confusion, hoping to understand if he looked at the other. His face was kind, but creased with worry. "Can you understand me? What's your name?"

Questions. Questions. _'You ask all these questions.'_ He blinked a few times, trying to rid his ears of the ringing, clear his head. Omniversal. He was speaking in Omniversal, a language most species learned to speak fluently.

"Kaden…" he said weakly. "My…my name is…Kaden." Right. That's right. "My name is Kaden."

The man seemed a bit less worried, but only slightly. "Good. That's good. You understand; you can speak. But you need to lie down. You had quite a shock from that crash." Crash? Oh…right. He took a ship. Fled the planet. Used the warp drive and crashed…wherever he was now.

"Where-where am I…?" he asked wearily, resisting only slightly while the man pushed him down gently on the bed.

"Veldin, Solana Galaxy," the man replied. "Do you remember anything?"

Remember…

_The cry of a baby. Something he held tight in his arms. He had to get out, get him somewhere safe! He promised to keep him safe._

Kaden shot up again, ears perked and eyes wide in alarm. "Where is he?" he asked urgently. Confusion crossed the man's face. "Where is he?" The Lombax was frantic. "Where is he?! _Where is my son?!_" He didn't quite realize when he stood, snarling viciously at the doctors. He forgot his pain, anger and concern overtaking him. If his son had died in that crash…

"Where is. My _son?_" His hands clenched into fists, his entire body shook. His son…he had to be alive! He just had to be! He couldn't be dead; he was just a baby. He had a whole life to live!

The woman in the room was next to him, putting a small, gentle hand on his shoulder. "Don't you worry, Mister Kaden," she said kindly. The child is safe; he's alive."

His sigh was almost a sob as he looked at her. _He was alive!_

The pain returned to him all at once, and his legs would no longer support him. He collapsed to the floor, relieved. His son was alive. He was alive and in good hands. _'Praise Orvus…'_

"You need to be tended, Mister Kaden," the woman stated. She looked to the other two in the room. "Help me get him back on the bed." The three of them gently lifted Kaden up and set him gently on the bed, but Kaden sat up again.

"Can I see him? I want to see my son. I need to know he's safe."

The woman smiled kindly, noting how panicked Kaden seemed. "I will bring him. Let the doctor tend to you. I will return with your son." She left the room while the other two returned to tasks left unfinished. One tried to get the Lombax to lie back down, but Kaden resisted. His thoughts remained on his son, the only person he had left. His wife was dead; his friend had been exiled, and no one knew where he had gone.

"Kaden, please," the doctor said. "You need to lie down." The Lombax didn't listen as he stared at the door, tail twitching impatiently. He was tempted to just go out there and find his son on his own. He'd do anything to find him, kill if necessary. It was at that exact moment that the woman returned, holding a small bundle of blankets in her arms. She stood next to the bed as the Lombax reached for it. With practiced care, she gently set the bundle in his arms. Kaden held the child close, offering his warmth as he watched the sleeping Lombax. He smiled tenderly at his son. He was so small, so fragile. Vulnerable.

The tiny Lombax yawned, his tongue curling and the small points of his teeth showing. After a moment, his eyes slowly opened. He blinked a few times, looking up at the person above him with those clear, bright emeralds. He cooed, reaching up with tiny, fur-covered hands. This was his son. _His _son.

"He's beautiful," the nurse said, her voice quiet and gentle. "What's his name?"

Kaden looked at her, an expression close to dismay on his face. He looked back down at the small creature in his arms. "We never had the chance…" he whispered, more to himself than the nurse.

"I'm sorry…?"

Kaden sighed, holding the child closer and nuzzling him gently. "He was born only a short time ago. We didn't have the chance to name him…not before…" The following thought angered him, so he did not allow himself to continue. He was safe for now. They were safe; his son was well.

The nurse did not press the matter of why the child had not been named, instead steering the conversation a slightly different direction. "We would like to have a name to place on his tag. For identification purposes."

_A name…_ Kaden thought. _A name for my son…_ He sifted through his mind, wondering what name would fit _his_ only son. He looked into the boy's bright emerald green eyes, searching for an answer. Kaden could only guess why they were so bright. His own eyes were a dark forest green; Emily's had been a dusky golden-yellow.

Kaden wracked his brain, but nothing came to mind. It was a question for a rainy day, though Fastoon had been void of rain for generations. He gave the question some more thought. What did he want for his son? What did he hope he would one day become? He gave attention to these questions. What _was_ he hoping for in his son?

_"Look to the future and keep moving forward. Never look back."_ His father had said that many a time when Kaden was young. What else had he said…? _"You're a companion, Kaden, but also a fighter. That's why I named you after _my _sire. Keep moving forward, boy. Move in only one direction, up. Just like a ratchet moves only one way, I want you to do the same. Do this, and you're going far, kid."_

_Like a ratchet…move in one direction, up…_ He wanted his son to do as he had done, and follow those same words. He looked down at small babe, watching with wonder as it stretched its frail arms with a yawn. "Ratchet…?" The small, bright eyes focused on Kaden, attentive. The nurse seemed questioning, even spoke, but Kaden was focused on his son. "Ratchet?" The question was more certain now, more definite.

The child fussed a bit, squirming in the older Lombax's hands. Kaden nuzzled him again, settling him. "Yes…you're alright, my son. You will go far…my little Ratchet."

Kaden looked through the glass window to the hospital's nursery at his son for what he knew would be the last time. It had been three days since they had been admitted. He could stay no longer, nor could he take his son with him. The child was already in danger; Kaden had to leave him here or face the risk of getting him killed. He refused to deliberately give his son to Death. His son **_would_** live.

He lifted his hand as the young cub stirred, his small, whip-like tail twisting every which way. How he wished he could stay, but such was impossible. Finally, with a heavy heart, the Lombax left the hospital, and his son, behind him.

Once he managed to fix his ship, it took Kaden only a few hours to return to Polaris. He wouldn't make it easy for his enemy, no, he would lead him on a chase in circles and loops. This was a game of cat-and-mouse…or, in this case, Cragmite-and-Lombax. For weeks, he managed to evade capture, yet Tachyon was always hot on his tail, believing he still had the Dimensionator with him. No, he had left it hidden, somewhere very few would think to look, much less find.

"Aphelion…set a course for planet Fastoon."

**_Are you certain, Kaden?_**

The Lombax nodded, muttering an affirmative. "What's our ETA?"

**_Two hours,_** the ship replied. Kaden settled, releasing the wheel and closing his eyes. Home sounded like a good place to stop for a while. Rest sounded good.

Sometime later, he was woken by a jolt of the ship. "Aphelion?"

**_It seems we are under attack. Tachyon's forces, no doubt. Unless we're lucky enough to let them be pirates._**

Kaden shook his head. "No. Pirates always announce their presence before attacking. It's Tachyon alright." He could just imagine the Cragmite in question screeching a correction, _Emperor!_ The thought nearly made him chuckle. Mouth set in a grim line, he takes the wheel, ready to fire. Fastoon floated nearby, desolate and silent compared to only a few months prior. "Come on, come on…" he muttered. "Where are you?"

The ship lurched forward again, the gravity of the planet below tugging it into a downward spiral. Kaden cursed, trying to pull up, but to no avail. "Aphelion! Engage gravi-metric stabilizers!"

**_Negative. It appears they have been damaged. Stabilizers are offline; landing flaps: offline._**

"You've gotta be kidding me…" As far as he could recall, this was the third time for such a thing to happen. Possibly the fourth.

**_Brace for impact._**

The warning for him came nearly too late as the ship dug into hard, foot-worn sand and skidded to a halt on the opposite side of the courtyard. Kaden hurriedly forced the ship's hood to open as she shut down. Glancing over from inside, he noticed the long, none-too-shallow rut in the ground left by the momentum. Looking the other way, he noticed a break in the land, one that likely led to an almost endless drop that would surely kill him.

Barely allowing himself to feel relieved, he hopped out quickly, wrench in hand to defend. A quick scan of the area revealed that the planet was, unsurprisingly, already being occupied by Nanophyte nests. As he continues to observe his surroundings, he unlatched the holster for his pistol for ease of access. His ears perked for every sound around him. He couldn't even hear the enemy ships overhead, though. He found that to be odd, as well as more than a bit unsettling. Tachyon was thorough. He wouldn't simply allow him to be shot down; he would be certain that Kaden was killed.

With cautious strides, the Lombax made his way around the area. He gazed in sad awe of the state of what was once his home. The statue in the center of the courtyard was slanted and cracked. The complexes surrounding were dented and charred. Beyond them, in the residential district, the homes he grew up among, those of his neighbors and his family, were ruined and dilapidated, crumbling beneath the harsh elements Fastoon threw at them. The planet was in a sorry state indeed. It left Kaden with a heavy heart and stinging eyes. How grateful he was to have sent his son away from such a cursed place.

Sudden movement caught Kaden's attention, but looking that way revealed nothing but falling sand. He frowned. He was definitely not alone anymore. A clang of machinery resounded through the courtyard, echoing in the cool breeze beneath the setting sun. Kaden's heart was racing again; his breath quickened. Adjusting and tightening his grip on his trusted weapon, the Lombax slowly began stepping back towards Aphelion.

He had only taken two tentative steps before hearing something behind him. "Hello…Kaden…" The voice was eerie, scratched and hoarse. It held a smug tone, one of a predator. It made Kaden's heart stop and turned his fur into toothpicks.

Dark forest eyes widened just before he whipped around with a snarl, brandishing his weapon at the enemy. For his son and for his mate, he swore he would not go down without a fight. "Tachyon!"

The last fleeting thoughts before battle flew to his son. He prayed to whatever gods there may or may not be that he would be safe.

**So…here's a little something…I finished 30 minutes after the end of Independence Day here in America…**

**Don't ask where it came from. I can't even remember by now; I started this thing months ago and only now decided to get off my lazy arse and get it done already.**

**I just have no clue.**

**I think I'm gonna try again on CoIE again…**

**Laters!**

**~Foenix Nightshade~**


End file.
